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N.H. man charged with kidnapping teen

Michael Winter, USA TODAY
5:45 p.m. MST July 28, 2014

Nathaniel Kibby, 34, of Gorham, N.H., was arrested July 28, 2014, and charged with one count of felony kidnapping of Abigail Hernandez, who went missing in Conway, N.H., in October 2013, and returned home last week.(Photo: New Hampshire Attorney General's Office)

A 34-year-old New Hampshire man was charged Monday with kidnapping a teenage girl who returned home a week ago after vanishing while walking home from school nine months ago.

Nathaniel Kibby was arrested at his home in Gorham based on information provided by 15-year-old Abigail "Abby" Hernandez, who disappeared Oct. 9 in Conway, about 30 miles away, authorities said. He was charged with one count of kidnapping "with a purpose to commit an offense against" the girl, and will be arraigned Tuesday afternoon.

No other details about Kibby or the case were released.

Abby made her first public comments Monday since she returned to her North Conway home July 20.

Abigail Hernandez disappeared after leaving school Oct. 9, 2013, three days before her 15th birthday. She returned to her North Conway, N.H., home July 20.(Photo: Conway Police Department/AP)

"I wish that I could personally thank everyone who looked for me. My gratitude is beyond words," she said in a statement released before Kibby's arrest. "It's an incredible feeling to be home, and I believe in my heart that your hopes and prayers played a major role in my release. Thank you all for the welcome home."

Her mother, Zenya, said last week that her daughter was "very thin and weak" and that she wasn't eating.

In an interview Monday on NBC's Today, she said that when Abby reappeared she had "a look in her eyes I've never, ever seen before. And that's something that's haunting me, and I think will haunt me for the rest of my life."

She added that she believes that her daughter did not run away and does not know Kibby. She also dispelled rumors that Abby was pregnant.